


The Proposal

by Lyledebeast



Series: Plans [2]
Category: Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Male Characters, Cuddling & Snuggling, Discussion of Robin but he doesn't appear, Introspection, Marian being a boss, Marian being done with bullshit, Mentions of Prince John, Mentions of Sheriff Vaisey, Multi, Polyamory, Uncertainty, past Marian/Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9124027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyledebeast/pseuds/Lyledebeast
Summary: Marian, Guy, and Allan have ousted the old sheriff.  Marian and Guy pay a visit Robin to discuss a possible alliance, and Allan councils them in the immediate aftermath.  Lots of discussion of past and present relationships.





	1. Guy

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a fic that counters the rule in canon that one is allowed to succeed in anything without Robin's direct involvement, unless they die in the attempt (hello, Sir Edward!) Canonically, Marian was the Night Watchman while Robin was still in the Holy Land. How disappointing, then, that her main role in that capacity once Robin is back is to fail so that he can succeed. The one strategy in which she succeeds is the one that directly leads to her death!
> 
> It didn't have to be that way; here's my alternative.
> 
> This is probably not a good fic for Robin fans. Extra-canonical consequences for canonical crappy behavior is not bashing. There's another name for that, in my opinion, but others may disagree.

Guy had thought that the departure of Prince John, with the former sheriff in his custody, would give him a chance to finally make sense of what had happened, but he found himself just as baffled as before.  How had she done it? How was it possible for Marian to tell such an enormous, outrageous lie, and get away with it? A part of him said that he shouldn’t be surprised, that she had lied to him often enough, but there was something different about this.  She had lied to the prince, about the sheriff! He could hardly wrap his head around the audacity.

“Did you know she was going to say that?” were the first words to issue from his mouth when he and Allan were alone again.

His lover had looked away, biting his lip nervously the way he did when wanted to tell a lie, but knew Guy wouldn’t fall for it.

“Well . . . yeah.”

“And you didn’t think to try to talk her out of it?” he snapped.

“I tried . . . but . . . honestly, Giz, why are you so upset? It worked!”

“That’s not the point, Allan,” he grumbled, but he found he could think of no further reply.  He couldn’t help but take some comfort in the younger man’s optimism.  It hurt a little that Marian hadn’t thought to tell him that she was going to make such a claim about the sheriff, but he could understand why all too well.  He would have worked much harder than Allan to dissuade her, but with the same result. Sometimes Guy envied him.  Allan cared for Marian, but without any of the deep need to protect her that he himself felt.  Nothing had changed that, not even learning that she was the Night Watchman, and probably more fit to protect him than the other way around.

He couldn’t help admiring her, for all the anxiety she caused him. To him, the sheriff seemed an insurmountable force.  It had been that way ever since he had first met Lord Vaisey fifteen years ago.  In all that time, he had only known the man to be truly stupefied once: when Marian had accused him of collaboration with Robin Hood.  It was just audacious enough to be effective.  “How else can he have failed to neutralize this outlaw after all this time, and with all the resources you’ve given him?” Marian had asked.  Guy had felt useless at the time, so overcome by shock that he could barely answer the prince’s questions.  He could remember saying that he had only followed orders over and over again, that it had never occurred to him that the sheriff could possibly be aware that all his plans would fail, and that the sheriff and Hood had duped him completely.

But hearing from Marian herself that he had been helpful had given him some relief, especially when she explained how.

“You see, your shock was what saved us.  If you had known what I was going to say, you would have been on edge before, and the prince might have noticed.  But for you to shocked by what I said about the sheriff and Robin actually made what I said all the more convincing.  Prince John thought you were amazed by the sheriff’s behavior, not mine, and that you were innocent, and so was I.  You did beautifully, darling.” And then she had kissed him, and for a few hours his anxiety had melted away.

It seemed to return tenfold, though, the next morning when she asked him to accompany her to the middle of Sherwood Forest to discuss plans for the future with Robin and his gang.  It had taken a lot of coaxing from both Marian and Allan—his position had been that the bad blood between himself and Robin was still so strong that he was certain to do more harm than good.  But when Marian confessed that she wanted Robin to see them together, that it was the only way he would believe she and Guy were on the same side as himself, he could argue no further.  Now, he found himself following her horse on the frosty pathway through the trees, still just as nervous as the moment he had relented and decided to accompany her.

“Are you sure it’s safe, Marian?” he asked once again.  He heard her sigh in exasperation just before she turned in the saddle to face him.

“You’ll be safe with me, Guy.  I told you.  I’ve been in this camp many times and all the gang know me.”

He frowned at that, struggling to hold back the anger that threatened to arise again.  After all the time Marian had helped Hood unbeknownst to him, it was hard to bear the thought of seeing them together again.  Though he couldn’t bring himself to admit it, it was sometimes still hard to believe she had chosen him and Allan over her former betrothed.

They rode on in silence until the trees began to grow less dense, and Marian brought her horse to a halt, allowing Guy’s to catch up with her.

“We’re almost there, Guy. He’ll know we’re coming by now.  Are you ready?”

He turned his head, taking in her tight expression.  She was nervous too, and the thought warmed him in spite of himself. He looked down again.

“I’ll be fine.  I just . . . I don’t think he’s going to like seeing me here.”

Marian looked at him quizzically for a moment before reaching out to squeeze his knee. “Guy, look at me,” she said.

When he met her gaze, she went on.

“You helped me get rid of the sheriff.  He’s gone, Guy, but you’re still here, and so am I.  You could have told the prince that I was lying, and I’d be on my way to London for execution, if I even got that far.  You made the right choice.  And yes, it’s possible that Robin won’t like seeing it that way.  But he doesn’t have to like it; he only has to understand.”

She held his knee until he gave her a nod, then urged her horse forward again.  Guy watched her for a moment, steeling himself before he did the same.  No matter how much of a disaster this meeting proved to be, it would all be worth it when Marian returned to the castle with him.


	2. Allan

Though he thought he had hid it well that morning before Marian and Guy set off, the truth was that Allan was eaten up with worry.  It was almost as bad as the day Marian set her plan to frame the sheriff for her cooperation with Robin into motion. Guy had instructed him to fortify the defenses on the walls, which was easy enough since men were not needed to enforce orders in the villages at the present.  But accomplishing that quickly had only left him with more time to worry.  Finally, be busied himself with making a schedule for guard duty with one of the castle scribes. He wondered if Guy had ever been ordered to do such a thing as Master at Arms; that, unlike most of his duties, he would probably have done well.  It was certainly tedious work for Allan, though.

They had only managed to work out a few nights before he heard the sound of the gate creaking open and looked down from his window to see Marian and Guy riding in.  Glancing up, he saw that the sun was still high in the sky; it had taken less time than he expected.  He wasn’t sure if this bode well or ill, but he dismissed the scribe, knowing that Guy and Marian would likely want to keep whatever had happened a secret for the time being. Even from a distance, he could see from Guy’s posture and the slowness of his dismount that the meeting had taken a toll on him, and the sight made his heart quicken. “At least they’re back,” he told himself, but it gave him little comfort.

When a few minutes had passed without their arrival in the cabinet where they had done most of their planning in the past, Allan made his way up to the solar, hoping that they were not simply trying to avoid him. That had never happened before, but so much had happened that was new in the past weeks that not much was left that could surprise him.

Opening the door to the solar, he found Guy alone, sitting at the table with a pitcher of wine.

He looked at him for a moment, checking for any signs of struggle or injury before he asked, “Where is she?”

Guy took a long sip of wine before answering. “She went to find paper and ink.  She wants to write to the lords and ladies who have helped . . . Robin in the past, and tell them that he knows what has happened with the old sheriff now, and he has said he will cooperate with us.”

As much as wanted to be relieved by those words, Allan was more struck by Guy’s listless expression and tone.  It seemed a struggle for him to use his former enemy’s first name, and he certainly did not sound confident.

“How did go, Giz?” he inquired softly, pulling a chair out from the table to sit next to him.

Guy shrugged and looked away.  “It went well, I suppose.  Marian got what she wanted from him. He’s going to help her.”

A grim smile spread across Allan’s face as he reached for Guy’s hand.  Of course, he would count that as a success, but it was going to be more complicated than that.

“What about you?”

Guy scoffed, still refusing to make eye contact, but not pulling away from the touch.  “Oh, I never expected him to care about me, Allan.  But I’m glad he’s going to help her.  That will make her happy.  I just wish . . .”

“What, Giz?”

Finally, he looked back at him, and Allan could read the anxiety in his drawn features.  “I just wish she would talk to me.  Something is bothering her; she barely said a word all the way back.  Just that I should come up here and try to get some sleep when we returned, but I needed this first.”

He indicated the wine, offering Allan a cup, but he declined.

“You should,” he agreed.  “I know you got hardly any sleep last night.”  Usually, he fell asleep himself quite quickly with Guy wrapped around him, but his lover’s tossing and turning had kept him awake, and he had only been able to find sleep after Guy had gotten out of bed in the middle of the night.

Rising from his chair, he bent down to press a kiss to Guy’s forehead. “Let me take this,” he said as he picked up the pitcher and the remaining cup.  “I think Marian might need some too.  We’ll be up in a while.”

Guy gave him a feeble smile, and for the moment at least, his worries were quieted.  But once he was on the other side of the door, his brow grew tense again.  Marian was going to have a lot to explain.

He finally found her at the old sheriff’s desk in what had been his bedroom, and his anger grew at the implication.  Guy refused to enter any of his predecessor’s private rooms; they held too many painful memories.  Marian knew that, which meant she wasn’t taking any chance of him finding her instead of doing as she’d instructed.  The door was open, so Allan walked in after only a light knock to alert her, setting the picture and cup down on the desk.

“I thought you might be needing this,” he said as Marian looked up at him cautiously.

“Thank you,” came her quiet reply.  “I do.”

She filled the cup and drank in silence at first, but Allan found his patience lacking.

“I took it from Guy.  I didn’t want him to . . . overindulge.  You know he sometimes does when he’s . . . upset.

He delivered the last word with an emphasis that made Marian set her cup down with a sigh.  Allan noticed that she did not look surprised.

“What was he upset about?”

Allan looked at her critically; how could she not know? She was the one who had been with him all day. But when she remained silent, he decided the question was genuine.  “If you had talked to him on your way back from the forest, you might know. I would think you’d know more about what happened there than I do!”

Marian sighed and finished her cup, sitting it down heavily on the desk. She closed her eyes, and Allan was able to take in how haggard she looked as well, regret stealing over him for how he had spoken before.  The meeting obviously hadn’t gone well from her perspective either.

“What did happen, Marian?” he inquired more gently.

She opened her eyes, and her features softened a little at the change in him.  Sitting back in her chair, she indicated another one on the other side of the room, asking Allan to sit down as well.

“Did Guy tell you anything?”  

Allan shook his head.  “Hardly.  He only said that Robin had agreed to help.”

She gave a derisive snort at that.  “Is that what he told you? I never would have taken him for such an optimist!”

He felt his eyes widen.  How could he respond to that? Was Guy wrong?

“You mean he . . . won’t?” I didn’t sound like Robin to refuse giving help outright.

The sardonic smile faded from Marian’s face and she shrugged. “I don’t know.  What he said was ‘I’ll do whatever needs to be done to assure that the people are treated fairly and receive justice.’ But justice according to whom?”

Allan heaved a sigh of his own; he was beginning to understand now.  “According to Robin’s wisdom, of course.  What did he say after that?”

Marian’s mouth tightened and her nostrils flared before she could speak, and Allan began to wonder if her silence on the way back had anything to do with Guy at all.

“He said, ‘I don’t know how you’re going to convince anyone that Gisborne will make a better sheriff than Vaisey did.”

As his hands tightened into fists, Allan saw the same indignation he felt mirrored in her eyes as she looked at him.

“As though he and the sheriff were cut from the same cloth,” he said with a shake of his head. Perhaps he had believed that too at some point, but the idea hadn’t survived more than a few days of actually seeing Guy and Vaisey together: the younger man always cowed by the older, refusing to stand up to even the harshest treatment.  Looking back, he knew that he should have noticed even before.  It had always been the sheriff who took real joy in inflicting pain, not Guy. Perhaps Robin had not been paying attention, or maybe . . .

“He’s jealous,” he blurted without further thought. Marian’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“Jealous?”

Allan winced at his mistake.  He knew Marian wouldn’t like idea that the real issue was who had the best claim on her, but he had already started to put it in just those words, and she was onto him.  He couldn’t go back.

“Well . . .” he began slowly.  “You did choose to come back to the castle.  To be with Guy . . . and me.”

She looked away, considering in silence.  When her eyes met his again, though, they were changed, the indignation replaced by a kind of quiet fury that had not been present before.

“He may be jealous of you and Guy.  Maybe part of this is about that, but it’s more. I think that he’s jealous . . . of me.”

Allan sat forward with his elbows on his knees, intrigued but proceeding cautiously.  “You think so?”

Marian nodded.  “I’ve been thinking about it since we left.  The way he reacted to what happened with Prince John when I told him.  Even though he saw the Prince’s army leave, with the sheriff, he didn’t even . . . acknowledge what a boon that was for the people he’s fighting for.”

Though he made no reply, Allan felt his skin grow hot once again.  “Was that when he said no will believe Guy can do better?”

“Oh no,” Marian cried.  “No.  That was the end of the meeting.  I said, ‘We’ll do our best, and hopefully that will be enough,’ and then we made our leave.”

Allan smiled, a warm affection taking the edge off of his anger.  “I think you probably made his leave too.  I’m sure Guy appreciated the ‘we’ from you, but he can’t have taken that from Robin well.”

“Well, he didn’t say very much,” she conceded with a brief smile.  “But what could he say? What could either of us say in the face of such . . . smug confidence that . . . that he was right, so no one else could be.”

He bit back a smile, trying to conceal the satisfaction he felt.  There had been a time when he had believed he was the only person to see that about Robin, especially after his betrayal had been discovered.  That had been his decision, and he had accepted the consequences, though they had turned out to be less weighty than he had imagined.  But Robin’s attitude had done nothing but make that decision easier.  Sure, he missed the gang, particularly Djaq and Will, but not that.

“Do you remember when he sheriff put that quarantine on Clum, and you drove up with all those loaves of bread?” he asked.

Marian hesitated before nodding, but Allan could detect the beginnings of a grim smile.

“You were with Robin and the others who fought off the guards?”

“Yes.  But I remember when you were safe, and you wanted to open the gates since, of course, there was no pestilence.”

“But Robin said, no! Let’s shoot the loaves over the walls on arrows!” she finished.

He nodded. “And everyone in the town still sings his praises for it, and they don’t even know it was all your idea, and that you brought the food from Knighton.”

She reached for the bottle and poured another glass.

“I . . . still think of that sometimes,” Allan admitted.  “I should’ve said something to him at the time but . . . well, he had saved my life recently.  It seemed a little ungrateful.”

Marian smiled and offered him her glass. “I should’ve been thinking of that,” she admitted as he took it.  “Perhaps then, what he said today would surprise me less.  As soon as I told him the sheriff was gone, his first reply wasn’t even a ‘good riddance,’ let alone congratulations.  He was scandalized that I’d accused him of working with the sheriff!”

“But . . . hasn’t he worked with the sheriff? Marian, he found the sheriff and returned him to Nottingham just a few months ago!”

“Yes,” she agreed, “but I think you know what was different about that situation.”

Allan didn’t need very long to think about that. “We asked him for help to find the sheriff, but to get rid of him . . .”

“Exactly.  You should’ve heard him telling me about all the things that could still go wrong without Vaisey.  How maybe Guy will fail to fool the prince, and he’ll appoint a new sheriff.  And we’ll be back just where we were before.”

“Well . . . it could happen,” Allan added timidly.

Marian scoffed in response.  “Of course it could, but as I told Robin, do you think men that evil grow on trees? I would take my chances with a new sheriff.  But really, all we have to do is convince the prince that we are following orders, and how often did the old sheriff follow anything besides his own whims?”

Allan made no reply to that; it was a fair point.  “His whims were dangerous enough.”

She nodded.  “Even if we accomplish nothing else, he’s gone, and we can be proud of that.  But Robin . . . it all makes sense now.  I don’t mean he’s sorry the sheriff is gone, not at all.  But will he ever admit it as a success? No, because . . . I did it without him, didn’t I!

The corners of her mouth turned and her anger abated a bit as she glanced at Allan.  “Not alone, of course,” she added.  “I couldn’t have done it without you and Guy, but the point is this.  My way worked! I said I could be more effective in the castle, and in two months I’ve done more than he’s been able to do in two years.  And he . . . he just can’t stand it.”

Allan waited for her to go on, but she merely took the cup of wine back from him and finished it.  When she sat it on the table, he moved forward and reached for her hand as he had Guy’s.

“I believe it.  But who cares what he thinks? You’ve . . . we’ve done so much, Marian.  What are you worried about?”

Smiling, she turned her hand in his, rubbing her thumb over the back of it.  “I know I’m probably thinking about this too much, but . . . the people will believe whatever Robin says.  If he’s skeptical, so will they be.”

Allan was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully.  “That may be true,” he admitted, “but what you’ve done . . . you get results.  The people may not know as much about your good works as Robin’s.  How could they when you’ve never sought credit, and you’ve even hidden them? But you have to ask, what do they need more? A hero to sing songs about, or someone to actually make their lives better? You would do anything to give the people what they need. Robin . . . well, if he only cared about what was best for them, he’d be beside himself with joy that the sheriff is gone!”

Marian smiled again and squeezed his hand.  “I hope you’re right, Allan.  Only time will tell.  But that’s not all I’ve been thinking of today.”

Allan felt his heart sink.  What was she going to confess now? Surely she didn’t still have feelings for Robin: not after all she’d discovered about him today.

“I’ve just been thinking . . . how lucky I am to have the two of you.  What a relief it is that I decided to come here when . . . if I had stayed with Robin, nothing would have changed.  The old sheriff would still be here, and I’d be . . . I’d be with a man who’d rather see me fail than succeed on my own initiative.”

Again, Allan had to bite back a smile.  His relief wouldn’t help her now, but it felt good to hear her say these things all the same. He stood up and stepped closer to her, stooping to wrap an arm around her shoulders and kiss her cheek.

“I’m glad too, love.  But try not to worry about Robin.  He’ll get bored out there in the woods once it sinks in that there’s no enemy to plot against in Nottingham.  Don’t be surprised when he starts sending advice.  Requests.  Demands.”

She rolled her eyes, standing up to get closer to Allan.  “I won’t be.  He’d like to be sheriff in all but name, I think, if he could avoid the tedious parts.  Like these letters I have to write.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you with them,” Allan said as she wrapped her arms around him. “Someone needs to make sure Guy actually goes to sleep.  Poor thing; sometimes I think he’d like Robin to be sheriff too.”

“Can you imagine?” Marian laughed.  Allan pulled her against his chest, pressing a light kiss to her hair before he released her.

“Come up soon?” he suggested.  “You look tired too, and you have the most important job of any of us.”


	3. Marian

Marian intended to finish letters to all the nobles who had been opposed to the old sheriff, women and men who had been her allies in the past, as soon as Allan had gone to bed, but the task proved too daunting after the day she’d had. Too many bothersome questions arose in her mind.  What if they were as skeptical of Guy as sheriff as Robin had been? And even if the letter coming from her did suggest the importance of her role, would they also doubt her ability to make life better for them? At least Robin hadn’t believed that Guy forced her to comply against her will, but perhaps they did not know her as well as he did? She tried to remind herself that it was she who had asked them for aid before; Robin wouldn’t.  And they had no other reason for expecting her to fail besides honest skepticism.

But none of that seemed to help her at the moment, so she arranged the papers she had started neatly on the desk and placed her pen back in the ink. Knowing that the walk to Guy’s bedchamber would be cold, she stopped by the hearth to warm herself. It was far more crowded than when she first arrived at the castle, and not only because of the snow that had been falling at intervals all week. The old sheriff had insisted that he didn’t provide lodging for his servants for them to clutter up his hearth.  He had even barred the castle dogs from the warm fire, insisting that they belonged in the kennels when not in use.  He had posted guards to drive them away, but Guy had decided there was better use for his men: watching for outsiders from the castle walls.  It was one of the first decisions Guy had made of his own volition, and small as it was, she couldn’t help but be proud of him.

Marian smiled as she edged her way through sleeping mats and dogs stretched out on the floor.  Robin’s supporters had no idea what he was like without the sheriff’s influence, no more than she had only a few months before.  If it weren’t for Guy choosing to return to the castle to protect her and Allan, and the plan the two of them had made to save her after Guy discovered that she was the Night Watchman, she would still be undecided about him. If she was alive at all. But he had proven himself as brave and loving as he was loyal; it was just a matter of turning that loyalty in the right direction. She could only hope that, in time, the lords and ladies whose help she needed would see that too.

But would it be enough to wait and see what she and Guy could accomplish together? What would they think of her, even after the understood her role? When she had written to them in the past to explain why she had returned to the castle, her only explanation had been that she could do more good there.  That was still true, but in a different way.  Indeed, it was not until she had become more than Robin’s spy that she was to accomplish anything! But there was no making sense of what she’d been able to do with considering the unusual relationship she had with the new sheriff and his Master at Arms.  That was not something she could explain to her new allies; indeed, sometimes she had trouble making sense of it to herself.  She could only be with one of them officially, but she knew that she would continue to need both of them as much as they had needed her.

She frowned at the conundrum.  It was the same old problem of needing to connect herself to a man to survive.  She had saved herself from marriage to Guy in a fit of rage, only to be almost absorbed by Robin in the name of the same feeling Guy professed: love. Now she had returned to Guy, but it was so different than she had imagined.  It was Allan who had made the difference; she was certain. There had never been anyone else whom Guy could trust; certainly not her.  And yet Guy’s feelings for her had only grown softer and more caring as a result of the tenderness he now shared with him.

Between these thoughts and the blazing fire, she was soon warm.  As she turned from the hearth and made her way down the hall and up the stairs, a thought that had only been a flicker in the back of her mind in the past weeks now growing more and more appealing. There was just enough light coming through the windows for her see the movement of the figures on the bed. One of them anyway. Guy had started to sit up as soon as she opened the door, but, recognizing her, he stretched out on side again, pretending to be asleep.  Marian shook her head as she started to undress. Allan, who had gone up hours before, was still breathing evenly, fast asleep.  He usually slept in between them, letting Guy pull him against his chest; it had been the same whenever she slept there. It was nice now that winter had come, but Allan felt the cold more than she did; sometimes his shivering kept her awake if he slept on the outside. 

For a moment she paused, listening for further sounds from Guy.  She started to climb in the other side of Allan, but then she heard a soft sigh from across the bed.  No, he was definitely still awake, and why not have this conversation now before she had time to think her way out of it again?

Crossing to the other side of the bed, she placed a hand on Guy’s shoulder.

“Guy, are you awake?” She felt him shift slightly as he sighed again, but she waited for him to speak.

“Yes.”

“Did you sleep at all?” she cooed, gently rubbing his shoulder.  He had tossed and turned with worry all the previous night, but she doubted the day’s events had brought him much relief. 

“A little.”

Marian frowned, again hesitating.  But if he wasn’t going to get any sleep anyway . . .

“Guy . . . there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Guy rose onto his elbow without hesitation.  “Of course.  Do you want to go . . .?”

“Oh, no. Don’t get up, just . . . stay where you are.  Is . . . is there room for me on this side?”

For a moment, Guy remained still.  Then he looked over his shoulder and whispered to Allan’s sleeping form. “Easy, pet. I just need to move you a little.” The bed shifted as he slowly backed against his lover, easing him out of the center.

Marian smiled, as she always did at the sound of Guy’s affectionate name for Allan, thankful that Guy couldn’t make out her expression.  It made him self-conscious, but it was one of the many things that had delighted her about the two men since she had become intimate with them.

When Guy turned back to her, she climbed in next to him and immediately felt his arms encircle her.

“You’re not too cold are you, darling?” he asked as she settled against his chest.

“Oh no,” she answered as she lifted a hand to take hold of his arm just above the elbow.  “I warmed up by the hearth before I came up.  I was trying to write some letters, but you know how cold it gets in . . . in the old sheriff’s rooms.

Even with his former master absent, Marian felt tension creep into Guy’s body at the mention of him.  She would have to change the subject quickly.

“I was having trouble because . . . well, why would I be writing them to tell them you’ve become sheriff? Why wouldn’t you?”

She felt Guy’s chest rise with a chuckle and the sound made her relax.  For the moment, the old sheriff was forgotten.

“I can think of a lot of reasons why you should write to them instead of me,” he answered.

“Perhaps, but . . . well, to be blunt, what am I to you that you would give me such an important responsibility?”

He started to answer, but she lifted a finger to his lips, silencing him.  “There is no connection between us to make them see that . . . that we’re together.  I mean . . . Allan is your Master at Arms.  That makes sense.  He’s your most loyal subordinate, so when you rose to a higher position, so did he, but I . . .”

“You’re hardly my subordinate, Marian,” Guy insisted, his voice rising so that Marian feared he might awaken Allan.

“Shhh, darling.  I never said I was, but there is . . . well . . . there is another role I could fill.  I had a chance of doing that once before.” She had lowered her hand to his neck, but now she raised it to brush her thumb over the tiny scar underneath his left eye.

“Marian,” he gasped, “you don’t mean it.”

“I do mean it,” she went on, gathering her courage.  Her heart was pounding with anxiety she hadn’t expected to feel.  Marriage to Guy was a smart move, especially now, but she knew the memory of their failed wedding must hurt him more than the cut she gave him ever had. Back then, and it seemed such a long time ago, she hadn’t cared how he felt.  She wanted to get away from him but, what was more, she wanted to punish him for lying to her.  How much they had both changed since then.

“Do you . . . do you not want to marry me anymore?” she forced out.  She knew he cared for her; he had shown that every day.  But it wasn’t exactly the same thing.

He pulled back from her slightly, and she could almost feel his eyes boring into hers in the darkness.  “You don’t want to marry me.  I know you want to show these people that you’re an important part of this . . . whatever this is.  But you . . . you don’t love me.”

His voice grew softer at the end, almost becoming a whisper, but to Marian’s ears it sounded like a question.

She wrapped her arms around his middle and pulled him closer to her.  “Listen, Guy.  I remember . . . what happened before.  And no, I didn’t want to marry you then, even before Much shouted that the king had not returned as you said.  But . . . look at all that’s happened since then! You’ve had two chances to choose your position with the sheriff over taking a risk for me.  And you chose me both times.  Do you know how what that means to me?”

Guy didn’t speak, but Marian could hear his heartbeat quicken in the silence. “It means,” she went on, “that you understand who I really am, and you support me anyway.  I never thought you would do that.  I wasn’t sure anyone would ever do that.  But now . . . I understand you.  You’re not the person I thought you were; not anymore, at least.  And yes, I do love you, and Allan.  I’m asking you because . . . you did want to marry me once. Is that . . . is that still something you want?”

Marian felt Guy’s shoulders began to shake before the first fell and rolled down his neck to where she had pressed her face.

“Yes,” he whispered.

With a smile, Marian sat up, but before she could kiss him, she heard a sleep-heavy voice from his other side.

“Well, I don’t give my consent,” Allan grumbled, sitting up.

Marian felt her heart sink.  Perhaps she should have gotten Guy out of bed.  But if Allan really objected, she couldn’t be surprised. She had learned how protective of Guy he was.

“I won’t give it . . . unless I can give the groom away.”

She felt Guy sigh against her, and it warmed her heart that Allan’s words had made him anxious too.  “You ass,” he said sternly, but Allan ignored his tone, dipping his head to kiss Guy’s lips.

“Of course I don’t object.  If anything, I’m relieved.”

“Relieved?” Marian asked.

“I didn’t think it would come to this when you first came back to us, but then . . . well, we’ve done more than just work with you haven’t we?”

She smiled slyly in the darkness.  Oh yes.  Much, much more. “That’s true.”

“And I knew . . . of course I know that Guy still loves you.” For a moment, Allan was silent, but when he spoke again it was in a more serious tone.  “I’ve always shared him with you, Marian.  From the very beginning.  But I can’t marry him, so this just . . . makes sense. We can move on with our lives.”

Marian felt the bed shift as Guy sat up.  “Pet, you’re not going to . . .?”

“Oh no,” Allan assured him with a laugh.  “I’m not going anywhere.  I’ll be here for as long as the two of you want me.

Marian swung her legs over the side of the bed, raising the skirt of her shift to climb over Guy and pull Allan into a hug.  “Would you settle, then, for giving the bride away?” she asked.

Allan started to chuckle, but it turned into a yawn, and Marian herself felt the strain of a long day after not enough sleep.

“We’ll negotiate that tomorrow,” Allan offered, yawning again.  “For now, let’s all try to get some rest.  Guy, you’ll need to start writing invitations tomorrow.”

Marian expected a complaint from the older man, but none came.  Instead, he wrapped an arm around each of them, kissing Allan and then her.  Then he stretched out on his side again, patting the bed next to him.  She turned to Allan questioningly, but his only response was to place a hand on the small of her back, gently pushing her towards Guy.  As he wrapped his arms around her again, he pressed his lips to her forehead before laying down his head on the pillow again.  Soon after Allan lay down behind her, draping his arm over Guy’s, the anxieties that had plagued Marian melted away, and she slipped into a contented sleep.  



End file.
